Marking device



Sept. 8, 1931. E. H. HUNTRESS MARKING DEVICE Filed June 2, 1927 I 56171 Huflfresis' by W, KM

/ULTRA/ VIOLE I71 we 71 f0 Erna iZ al'fo 2" 21635 Patented set. a, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE a 'r 1:. names, or mssacnusn'r'rs, assmnoa zro rtmoui'n conn- LGE COMPANY, 01 PLYMOUTH, SET'I'S manna mrvroa Application ifled June a, 1927; ass No. 196,138.

- This invention relates to improvements in marking devices. More particularly it relates to devices by which the authenticity, mi in or identity of a articular s ecimen .o -a manufactured pro uct may be etermined by examination of the specimen, when it is offered for sale in commerce or has been used for its appointed purpose; andalthough the marking accomplished by ractice of the injO' vention may be employed for conveying any sort of intelligence, it is -believed that its reatest utility will be found where the inormation conveyed has some particular reference to the article which bears'the mark. .18 This is especially useful in cases where a permanent associating of the desired information with the product is not readily effected by a printed label or inscription. The in vention is herein illustrated as applied for identification of a rope. I

For identifying a rope as being of particular make, or as being owned by a particular navy or company, ithas heretofore been proposed to lay a am of some certain dyed color among the ot er yarns of the rope. But colored, yarns have been used by so many different persons, and for so many purposes, and are so readily open to challenge and to counterfeiting, that this identification means has ceased to be satisfactorily distinctive. It is one feature of the resent invention that it provides a distinctive yarn in the rope, which yarn is a regular stress-bearing part of the ro e like the other yarns. It is another feature t at this may be, not merely, an identification means, but that it may have the peculiar quality of being a secret or private 'mark, not observed by an ordinary person, but capable of being made to flash out in clear and unmistakable brilliancy when an informed person applies the proper test.

For such purposes it. is requisite that the treatment to which the test yarn is subjected should not harm the strength or other qualities of the component fibres, and that the identification characteristics should persist in the yarn notwithstanding that the rope undergoes any sort of experience, such as becoming 60 soaked with oil; or with fresh or salt water;

-or becoming filled with coal'dust, dirt or grit of any kin The invention provides for the preliminary I treating of the marking element, which may be one of the regular yarns of the rope (or a structural part of the article which is to be marked, whatever that article may be), with a substance which does not change the aspect of the yarn (or, at preference, with a substance which does clearly change its aspect), but which responds in a distinctive andvunmistakable way when the preliminarily treated yarn is subjected to a certain special test treatment; The test treatment may consist of subj ectin'g the yarn to a ce'rtain'change MASSACHUSETTS, A-GOBPOEATION HABSLOHU- of condition and it is particularly impressive and convincing if applied to all of the associated yarns together, treated and untreated. The particular test treatment here chosen for illustrating the invention is to expose the yarns together to ultra violet rays; and the preliminary treatment is to immerse the test yarn in a coating, impregnating or reacting substance such that the yarnto which it has been applied becomes fluorescent to a distinctive degree in ultra violet rays.

It has been discovered that such a preliminary treatment can provide a permanent fixa-' tion, without damaging the fibre, which fixa: tion is not itself capable of-bein dissolved, or damaged by, or of reacting wit anything into contact with which the rope comes 'during the rope'slife time of normal usage, but remains always capable of responding to the test treatment.

In a-preferred embodiment of the invention a yarn of hemp fibre, or of'sisal, or-of other material like that of which the identifiable rope is to be made is to be treated with a dye which produces in the yarn a color which as ordinarily seen is approximately the same as' that of the rope, but which possesses a distinctive ultra violet fluorescence. An example is found in the sodium salt of the sulfonic acid" of methylated primuline base, which. produces a color in the yarn that is practically indistinguishable from that of untreated yarn, when seen in daylight or under ordinary electric light, but which has a striking whitish yellow fluorescence when r I seen under ultra violet light. When a yarn treated with this. is incorporated in a rope with untreated yarns, this yarn is not distinguishable from the others by ordinary light; but under the chan ed conditions of observation produced by uItra violet ra s it is distinguished not only b its whitish ye low fluorescence, but by the fact that the other yarns appear slightly fluorescent with a blue color, due to the oil with which the fibre has been treated in the working of the material into yarn as is customary in the manufacture of rope. These visual characteristics of the rope, with the test yarn standing out beautifully and clearly from the others, have proven to be practically unaffected by man ours endurance test of exposure to fres water, sea water, gasoline, lubricating oil and steam. This dye is listed in the standard reference book of dyestuffs used by the color trade, entitled Colour Index of the Society of Dyers and Oolourists, ublished in January 1924by the society at radford, England, which gives the formulae and meth-. ods of preparation with trade names and scientific names of commercial dyes, so that the above mentioned dye can be more simply indicated and identified by reference to this book and by its number therein, thus: E. O. I., No. 816.

In another application of the invention a yellow dye may be employed which leaves the yarn yellow in ordinary light but makes it so that it does not fluoresce at all under the ultra violet rays, merely appearing a deep purplish brown in color. This likewise is distinctive because the ordinary yarns fluoresce to a blue color as above indicated. Tests have shown that this blue fluorescence persists throughout the life of the rope. Such a non-fluorescing dye, giving a pale yellow aspect to the yarn but little different from the aspect of untreated yarn, and remaining unchanged for practical purposes by the above endurance test, is the sodium salt of 2:2 disulfostilbene 4:4 disazo-bis-phenetole, E. O. I., No. 365.

In another application of the invention a dye is used'which has the characteristic that the yarn to which it has been applied is indistinguishable from yarn to which it is not applied, but which in ultra violet rays, fails to fluoresce, being barely seen as a purplish brown, while the ordinary yarn fluoresces to a blue. This is the sodium salt of diphenylurea p, p-disazo-bis-salicylic acid, E. O. I., N o. 346; and this remains distinguishable notwithstanding application of the endurance test above stated.

For still another application of the invention, it may be preferred to have a yarn which is readily distinguishable from the others by ordinary light, eing in this respect comparable to yarns whichhave been used for identification purposes hitherto in rope, and which O. 1., No. 812. This dyes the yarn a very A pale yellow that is easily distinguishable from the other fibre, and which fluoresces to a whitish yellow. Another example of this class is the hydrochloride of tetramethyldiaminodiphenylketone imine, E. O. I., No. 655, which is of bright yellow color by ordinary light and which fluoresces to a bright yellow color distinctive from the other fibres; and another is the hydrochloride of diethyl m-aminophenolphthalein, E. O. I., No. 749, which fluoresces pink. EX eriment shows the former of these less stab e under perslstent exposure to water.

One way of applying this or other of the colors is to twist a yarn which has been treated with it with a yarn which has been dyed to a like color with non-fluorescent material. These when incorporated together into rope look alike, in ordinary light, but under the changed conditions which prevail in ultra violet rays the twisted unit appears in a series of sections alternately fluorescing and not fluorescing. The principle may be applied WhGljllBYthe twisted yarns look alike in ordinary light or are distinguishable.

By means of difiering selections and combinations a wide variety of marking is thus obtainable. If it be desired, the products of a company using the invention may be arranged so that the identifying characteris tics do not appear to the ordinary observer, yet respond strikingly when tested by examination under ultra violet rays. Such a keeping private of characteristics which identify the goods renders counterfeiting more diflicult.

Although the particular form of the invention herein described relates to the use of the fluorescent material as a dye, it is possible also to use it by mixing a suitable inert material with the grease which is applied to the fibre during its working in process of manufacture of the yarn, which would produce, in a particular yarn which had been thus treated, a degree of fluorescence differing from that of ordinary yarn comprising other parts of the same rope. Or, other fluorescent material may be incorporated with the grease in the working of the fibres, while making the yarn.

Other variations may be made. And while the description herein shows an application in which the marking substance takes the form of an element of the article marked, as a yarn of a rope, it will be understood that the substance applied, which is to fluoresce distinctively does not necessarily have theelt I or an illustrative example, the practice of the invention with E. C. I. No. 816 may be considered. The manila, sisal or other yarn which is to constitute the identificat on means may be run through a vat containing a solution of this dye in water. In this particular instance thedye weighed 1% of the weight of fibre to be dyed, and was dissolved in volumes of water; and was found that after sixty seconds immersion, and drying', the yarn is indistinguishable in ordinary light from other yarn of the same kmd which has not been thus dyed; but that when made into a rope with this other yarn, and seen in ultra violet rays, the dyed yarn stands out with a whitish yellow fluorescence,

from the mass of other yarn which fluoresces blue. Experimental tests indicate that the fluorescence characteristic will persist throughout the life of the rope in its normal usage, subject to its normal vicissitudes of exposure to abrasion, to solution and to chemical reaction.

For the following illustration of the inven-' tion reference is made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 represents a bit of rope in which one of the yarns has been prepared to respond to the test treatment and is distinguishable from the others even before the test; and

Figure 2 represents in diagrammatic form the application of a test treatment using ultra violet rays whereby the prepared yarn fluoresces to a brilliant yellow while all of the other yarns subjected to the same rays at the same time fluoresce to a dull blue.

In the drawings, Figure-1, which repre sents the rope as seen in natural light, the.

prepared yarn ismarked 10 and-is stippled lightly so that itscourse through-the strand in the rope can be traced. This stippling may indicate the presence ofthe dye, which, in

' practice may at choice be so much like the color of the other yarn as to be not readily or certainly distinguishable from them under ordinary inspection, or may be readily distinguishable from them. Or,-if. desired, this yarn may be readily distinguishable from others in ordinary light because of being of different texture or because of containing some non-fluorescing, visible dye, the presence of which is a matter of choice and not a feature of the invention. However this may be, the diagrammatic showing in Figure 2 indicates the appearance when; the test treatment of ultra violet rays is applied. The

observer being with the rope which is to be tested in a place of utter darkness, wherein the rope and all parts of it are invisible, 11

indicates apparatus generating ultraviolet rays which may be considered to have a wave length, measured in Angstriim units somewhere in the range between 200 and 4000, this being the range of light waves, otherwise called waves of radiant energy or electromagnetic waves, covering thefour octaves next below the single octave covered by the visible spectrum, rangin from 4000 to 7000 Angstrdm units in lengtE. Upon the setting of the apparatus into action, producin the ultra violet rays, without the rope within their reach, the field continues in darkness as before; but upon the thrusting of the rope containing the prepared am 10 into the field of ultra violet rays e. yarn ing- 10 becomes plainly visible with a whitish yellow radiant aspect, and the other yarns 12 of the rope become visible as a dim blue. Thus the plreparedyarn stands out in visual aspect in s arp contrast to the others and constitutes a mark on the rope which becomes readily distinguishable upon the mere application of the specified rays, the explanation being that the impinging of the said rays upon the fluorescent substance in the yarn produces a reactionsuch that the said rays small quantityof oil which produces this.

result; but in the absence of this oil or other ingredient of like effect these other yarns would remain absolutely invisible, as do other articles'which are within the range of the-applied rays,1as the table top or the operators hand, but are not thus prepared with a fluorescing substance.

*When it is desired to test any rope for discovery whether it contains a special identification characteristic, a few inches of the end of the ropemay be unlaid so as to display the various yarns; and then in a darkened chamber these may be ex to ultra violet rays produced by any suitable method, of which a number are known. For this purpose mercury arc lamps radiating through quartz are readily available inthe market and are satisfactory. Also, a carbon arc is useful, in conjunction with a filter of special glass which knows the visible portion of the spectrum. If the rope has been used it may be advisable to wash thoroughly the yarns-which have been unlaid from its end, in order to remove all foreign matter; and

for this purpose a washing in gasoline is ef-.

1 which it there assumes.-

become broken up or converted in part to It will be perceived that-the invention thus described isa specific application of the generic improvement which consists in providing, in the case of rope, a yarn which reacts differently from the way in which the other yarns react when all together are subjected to a test treatment. The treatment producing the reactionmay be exposure to a particular kind of light, as the ultra violet rays; or polarized light; or light which has passed through a color filter, which may be mentioned as other examples. The distinctive and novel characteristic of the invention is that the mark which constitutes the test appears as a result of a reaction from the application to the article of conditions which are changed from those under which the article ordinarily exists or is viewed.

I claim as my invention:

1. An improvement in the art of marking, comprising the combining, with the article which is to be marked, of a substance which fluoresces with a distinctive aspect under light rays which are outside of the range of rays norm ally visible to the human eye, thereby constituting a mark on said article which becomes distinctive when said outside rays are applied.

2. A11 improvement in the art of marking whereby the marked article hashad treatment at predetermined loci, thus permitting contrast between said predetermined loci and the adjacent portions of the article, with a substance, constituting the mark, which under ordinary light resembles said adjacent portions of the article, but which under the influence of radiant energy of a wave length less than that of ordinary light fluoresces with a distinctive aspect.

3. An improvement in the art of marking articles composed of a plurality of structural elements, comprising treating one of said structural elements with a substance which fluoresces with a distinctive aspect under the influence of radiant energy of a wave length less than that of ordinary light, whereby the mark appears in the structural shape of the treated element when the article as a whole is subjected to the action of such energy.

4. An improvement in the art of marking articles composed of yarn, comprising the introduction into the article, among the yarns,

of a yarn which is diverse from other yarns therein as regards its fluorescent properties.

5. An improvement in the art of marking articles made of yarn, comprising the immersing of the material composing a yarn, preliminary to the assembling of all the yarns to make the article, in a substance whose effect is to make the yarn to which it is applied visibly respond diversely from the way in which yarns not thus treated respond when subjected to rays of light which are outside of the range of rays normally visible to the human eye.

6. Animprovement in the art of marking comprislng the combining with the article whlch is to be marked of a dye which fluoresces distinctively under ultra violet rays; said dye being arranged on-the article in a pattern which is obvious on the article when viewed directly under ultra violet rays.

7. An improvement in the art of marking rope, comprising the treatment of a arn of the rope with a substance which pro uces in it a fluorescence under ultra voilet rays diverse from the fluorescence under the same rays of other yarns not so treated.

8. An improvement in the art of marking rope, comprising the incorporating in the rope of a yarn which under ordinary light resembles the other yarns, but is specially treated with a substance such that under ultra violet rays it appears diverse from the other yarns which are not similarl treated.

9. An improvement in the art 0 marking rope, comprising the incorporating in the rope of a yarn which is responsive to light diversely from the responsiveness of other yarns of the rope, when the light by which it is viewed is altered from the normal light in which objects are seen.

10. An improvement in the art of marking comprising the application to the article tobe marked of an extraneous substance capable, when subjected to the action of energy of given characteristics, of emitting energy of different characteristics.

11. .An improvement in the art of marking comprising the application to the article to be marked of an extraneous substance capable, when subjected ,to the action of energy of given characteristics, of emitting waves of visible radiant energy.

12. An improvement in the art of marking comprising the application to the article to be marked of an extraneous substance which when stimulated by waves of ultra-violet radiant energy will emit waves of radiant energy falling within the visible range.

13. A new article of manufacture comprising an industrial product with which is associated, as a means of identification, a nor mally dormant extraneous substance capable of fluorescing with a distinctive aspect.

14. A new article of manufacture comprising an industrial product with which is associated, as a means of identification, an extraneous substance which fluoresces with a distinctive aspect under the influence of radiant energy having a wave length less than that of ordinary light.

15. A new article of manufacture comprising an industrial product with which is associated, as a means of identification, an extraneous substance with fluoresces with a distinctive aspect when subjected to the action of ultra-violet rays.

'16. A new article of manufacture comprising a rope one of the yarns of which, as a means of identification, is impregnated with a dye which is of substantially the same color as the rope itse1f,ibut which, under ultra- 'violet rays, fiuoresces with a distinctive aspect.

Signed at Boston, Massachusetts, this twenty-third day of May, 1927.

ERNEST H. HUNTRESS. 

